The University of Redlands men's soccer team faced off against the Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on a warm, Saturday night at Farquhar Field. Despite surrendering two goals in the opening frame, the Bulldogs charged back to net two scores of their own in the second half and escape with a 2-2 tie.
After a defensive mishap, the Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up early, as the Kingsmen capitalized in the first minute of the game. CLU later expanded its lead in the 40th minute, leaving the Maroon and Gray with a two-goal deficit to start the second half.
However, the Bulldogs refused to wave the white flag, as they continued to fight in a strategic manner. The defensive cohort consisting of junior Tom Elsea (Mission Viejo, CA), sophomore Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI), and senior Peter Marsden (Woodside, CA) held the Kingsmen to just three shots-on-goal in the second half.
Beyond his defensive prowess, Elsea took control on the offensive end in the 81st minute by booting a goal past the Kingsmen's goalkeeper off a corner kick, with some help from sophomore midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR), to cut the Bulldogs' deficit in half.
In the 84th minute, sophomore goalkeeper Josh Haskill (Lakewood, CA) kept CLU off the board at a critical juncture by making an incredible diving save that found him parallel with the pitch to preserve the home team's hope for overtime.
Haskill's highlight-reel save paid dividends, as freshman forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) sent home the equalizer in the 86th minute off a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Sergio Valencia (San Ramon, CA) to knot up the score at two apiece and eventually force overtime.
In the first extra period, the Bulldogs saw four chances on goal, with two coming off the foot of ChubbFertal and one each from sophomore forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) and junior midfielder Colin Zaccagnio (Phoenix, AZ).
The Bulldogs' defensive brigade held strong by not allowing a single chance for the Kingsmen in the two, 10-minute overtime periods.
Despite those efforts, Redlands only saw two chances at the game-winner in the final 10 minutes, eventually ending in a 2-2 draw.
Redlands' ChubbFertal led the way with six shots, while Marsden backed him with four.
Haskill provided a solid stamp in goal by notching two crucial saves in 65 minutes of work.
Redlands dominated the offensive opportunities by holding a 25-8 shots advantage over Cal Lutheran. In addition, Redlands notched 15 corner kicks on the night.
The Bulldogs (5-2-1, 3-2-1 SCIAC) return to Farquhar Field on Sunday, September 27, when they face off against the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs in non-conference action at 5 p.m.
